Most of us just send the cars to the workshops when something is wrong and we usually don't stand around all day to watch what part is being replaced or whether the parts are being repaired at all. Having a busy schedule and without any technical knowledge also does not help.
I have discovered that numerous workshops have been ripping off customers when their cars are sent in for repairs. In many cases where the cars are sent for repairs, the problem from the car is very minor and the parts can easily be repaired but the workshops will sell brand new replacement parts instead of repairing the broken part. Doing this increases their profit margins and also reduces the time taken to trouble shoot the problem. Saying this, there are also many unscrupulous workshops that claim to have changed a broken part with a brand new one but in actual fact all they do is swap a working used part. Most car owners will not open the bonnet to check which part has been replaced and most don't bother to even see the original broken part. Some workshops will place a broken part on a piece of newspaper to show that they have taken it out and replaced it with a new one, but do we really know if that part was originally from your car?!
Trust is a big issue in the automotive industry and workshops ripping off customers are happening everyday. The Automotive Association in Malaysia have tried to control this by coming out with a schedule of prices listing our common service and repair work. However rarely do field audits take place and workshops are free to charge what ever prices they want.
To protect your wallet, I personally recommend taking the trouble to understand the problem of the car when it happens and also ask to see the parts that were changed (the original and the new).
No comments:
Post a Comment